The National Broadcasting Company and its affiliated stations present The Pacific Story. The Pacific Story In the mounting fury of world conflict, events in the Pacific are taking on ever greater importance. Here is the story of the Pacific and the millions of people who live around this greatest sea. The drama of the peoples whose destiny is at stake in the Pacific War. Here, as another public service, is the tale of the war in the Pacific and its meaning to us and to the generations to come. The Pacific Story Sumatra, return to the Indies. The Pacific Story Bombs are dropped only on important places. They are falling on the great island of Sumatra these days. That one fell on Sabang. That one fell on Padang. That one fell on Madan. And those fell on Palembang. All these are important places. They are the leading cities of Sumatra that make Sumatra important. And since a good many of the bombs falling on Sumatra are British, this Britisher here might be able to give us a hint of what's in the wind. Occupation of Sumatra would aid greatly in any attempt to secure Singapore. They've got their eyes on Singapore, just across the Straits of Malacca from Sumatra. Sumatra, as you know, forms the western shore of the Straits of Malacca. Yes. So of course, the Straits of Malacca cannot be used until a good part of Sumatra is secured. The Straits of Malacca are between Singapore and Sumatra. And Sumatra would provide us excellent basis for attacks against the Japanese in Malaya and in Singapore. So Singapore is the objective. For Singapore is not only strategic value, but also prestige value. But Sumatra is the key to Singapore, and Sumatra is a formidable island. Not because of its military installations, but because of its character. Sumatra is almost exactly the size of your California. This is a Dutchman. It is more than 1,000 miles long and about 250 miles wide. That will give you some idea. 1,000 miles long and some 250 miles wide. Sumatra is 13 times the size of the Netherlands. 13 times the size of the Netherlands. You realize that when you fly over. You see, there is a mountain range that runs from one end of Sumatra to the other. Yes, there's some pretty high peaks down there. Some of them are more than 5,000 feet high. And still most of Sumatra is a steaming jungle. The equator cuts directly through the middle of it. And notice the mountain range runs along the western coast. And the terrain slopes down to the muddy flats of the eastern shore. That's interesting. Mountains along the western side and mud flats along the eastern side. You see, the rivers runs down from the mountains, down through the muddy flats on the eastern side, down to the sea. Yes. Because of the mud flats, all the principal cities on the eastern side are built some distance inland. Usually on the rivers. Palembang, for example, is built 56 miles from the sea on the Mussey River. Remember that city, Palembang. The rivers on the eastern side are navigable, but the harbors are not good. On the western side it is just the opposite. The rivers are not navigable, but the harbors are good. Emma Harbor, for example, and Padang. Remember that city, Padang. On the eastern side is also Medan, the capital of Sumatra. Medan is like Palembang, some distance inland. Remember that city, Medan. And at the very northern tip of Sumatra, just off the coast, is a naval base at Sabang. Sabang commands the northwestern approaches to the states of Malacca. Remember that city, Sabang. The bombs are falling on Sumatra these days. They are falling where men have struggled for hundreds of years. Today the fighting is against the Japanese. In years past, it was against the British, the Dutch, the Portuguese. And for many years before that, people of many races came to Sumatra to fight for the treasures of the island. Today the population of Sumatra is a mixture of many peoples and many bloods. I am one of the Menangkabus. We live in the central western part of Sumatra. There are two million of us. The Menangkabus live in the general vicinity of Padang on the western side. They are a fairly cultured people. I am a Batak. We live to the northwest of the Menangkabus in the west of Sumatra. Most of the Bataks are pagans. Some are Christians. But Mohammedanism has never gained a foothold among the Bataks as among many other peoples of Sumatra. I am a Palembangese. We live in the southeastern part of Sumatra. A good many of the Palembangese have Javanese blood. Most of them are Mohammedans. I am a Mele. We are the largest racial group of Sumatra. We are of the same people who live in Malaya. The Mele's are perhaps the most advanced people who live on Sumatra. Most of them are Mohammedans. I am an Achenese. We live in the northwestern part of Sumatra. We will never permit ourselves to be controlled by the Dutch or by any other people. The Achenese are devoutly Mohammedan. Besides all these, there are other peoples on Sumatra, many Arabs and more than half a million Chinese. But the least tractable of all are the Achenese. They are fanatics. In the early 1800s, both the British and the Dutch were scrambling for power on Sumatra. The Achenese fought both of them or whoever tried to tamper with their independence. At last, the British adventurer Raffles concluded a treaty with the Achenese. In return for our protection of the rights of your country, you will grant the right to trade in your ports. The Achenese agreed. But meantime, the Netherlands and Britain had entered into a treaty. The British were to stay out of the islands, and the Dutch were to stay off the mainland of Asia. Raffles' agreement with the Achenese is inconsistent with this treaty. You British have agreed to stay out of the islands. Therefore, you must stay out of the Achenese ports of Sumatra. The British pulled out in 1871, giving the Dutch the right to extend their control over the Achenese. We will never submit to the Dutch or to any other people. And the Achenese backed up their words with action. The Dutch sent expedition after expedition against the Achenese. We will never submit, never. The fighting went on year after year. The Dutch had brought most of the rest of Sumatra under control, but not the country of the Achenese. We will never submit. We will call upon the great world powers to intervene on our behalf before we will give in to the Dutch. We will call on the United States or France or Russia. This possibility posed a grave problem for the British. The Achenese will welcome the intervention of any power that will help them against the Dutch. This means that the intervening power would establish a base in Acha, and this would constitute a threat to Singapore, and thus to Great Britain herself. The British therefore gave the Dutch a free hand in clearing up the Achenese situation. But the Achenese fought on. We will never submit, never. The fighting went on for 30 years. Not until 1901 did it come to a close. And though the Achenese stopped fighting, they still resisted the political control of the Dutch. Now we must bring the Achenese under the crown as a subject people. But it took eight years more before the Dutch administration was really consolidated in Sumatra. Now they faced the task not only of learning to live with the many peoples of Sumatra, but of keeping them from warring with each other. Most of the people of Sumatra are Mohammedans. This is an Arab. How long have you been in Sumatra? My people have been here for more centuries than I know. The Arabs came to trade, bringing their products and even their families in their small boats. The name Sumatra is derived from the Sanskrit word Samudra. Samudra means the sea, and so Sumatra means sea island. Many Arabs and Chinese plied the rivers in their river houses, which are really houses built on boats or rafts. We make our way up and down the rivers, trading wherever we go. And what do you sell? Everything. Mostly I sell this. What is that? It is kretek, a palm leaf that is used for cigarettes. Tobacco is raised in Sumatra too, isn't it? Yes, in the daily river country up near Medan. The river houses fly lazily up and down the rivers. They make their way upriver between the mudflats overgrown with tropical plants, where it's impossible to tell where the land ends and the sea begins. They wander up the tributaries from village to village, and are familiar with the sight of elephants, rhinos, apes, tigers, tapirs, bears, flying foxes, and tropical birds, orioles, honey birds, kites, and falcons. Sumatra is hot and moist. The monsoons come and go, and life goes on. But there is another side of Sumatra. This is the most European city in all of Sumatra. This is Medan. Medan is a new city, only about 70 years old. Do you notice the architecture? Fine hotels, banks, and modern shops line the streets. It is the ultra-modern architecture of the Netherlands, and notice how the streets are laid out with shady trees and all along them. Modern office buildings, a post office, and a market. And that back there is the dome of the Great Mosque, and that is the minaret, and that is the palace of the Sultan. A fusion of the Occidental and the Oriental against a tropical background. That train carries tobacco to the port of Belauan. Four-fifths of the United States demand for fine wrapper leaf tobacco comes from Sumatra. You see the port of Belauan is just 16 miles away on the coast. From Medan also is shipped out great quantities of rubber and coffee and tea. And all this has made Medan, in the space of a few years, a city of more than 80,000, second only to Palembang in all of Sumatra. We have here in Medan the most strategic airport in all of North Sumatra. Where is that airliner bound for? That one that's bound for Batavia and Java. You see this airport is on the Netherlands routes between Europe and Java. Ah, there comes a passenger plane all the way from Holland. Yes. Just how far are you here from Singapore? Oh, 400 miles. Airlines connect the big cities of Sumatra and link them with the outside world, with the great cities of Asia, with Australia, with many of the islands of the Pacific, and with Europe. But with railroads, it's another story. There are three railroad systems in Sumatra, but none of them joins with the others. Which one is this? This is the West Coast Railroad. It runs inland from Padang here and from Emma Harbor, but it only serves this one locality of Sumatra. I see. Sumatra is a thousand miles long and mostly covered with mountains and jungles, so the linking of the railroad systems would be a great task. Another railroad runs north and south from Medan. This is the Delle Railroad. It runs from here in Kota Raja on the northern tip of Sumatra down through Medan and 150 miles to the south. But 150 miles of railroad on an island a thousand miles long and 250 miles wide is not very adequate. The third railroad runs out of Phalambang. This is the South Sumatra Railroad. It runs from here in Phalambang southward to Teluk Betong on the southernmost tip of Sumatra. One short railroad in the north, one in the middle of the island, and one in the south, and each separated from the other by hundreds of miles of equatorial jungle. Such are the difficulties that confront military operations in Sumatra, the key to Singapore. But the most important military objective of Sumatra is Phalambang, trade center in Port City on the Musi River near the southern end of the island. The first Japanese bomb to fall on Sumatra fell on Phalambang. The reason? Phalambang is the oil center of Sumatra. More than 100 million dollars in years of labor had been put into the Phalambang district. In the midst of the tangled tropical growth 56 miles up the river from the coast, it is Sumatra's richest prize with oil refineries, stored oil, and high-test aviation gasoline. How great is the damage? They did not hit the oil fields, nor the refineries. What of our reserves? They ran out head either, but they hit our military installations hard. The rate was made of force. They must already be operating from the air drones of Singapore. They are. The Japanese plan is clear. They have not bombed our petroleum center, but they have tried to destroy our military installations. That means that they will try to take our oil intact. Yes, and if they land here and take Phalambang, they will be in a position for a drive on Java. We must see that they do not land. Yes, and we must see that oil fields are blown up as we destroy the fields in Tarlkarn and Balikpapan. You will take charge of the demolition. The crash of the Japanese bombs on the military installations around Phalambang was equalled by the explosions of the Dutch demolition squads in the oil field. The Dutch raced with time. While their troops deployed to meet the expected invasion of the Japanese, the city of Phalambang made preparations for the siege. I must take my river house with all possible supplies up the river. The river houses of the Arab and Chinese merchants moved slowly up the thousand-foot-wide Musi River. I will stay here in my house on its foes. The Phalambangese, the Javanese, the Makassarees, who for so many years had made up the population of Phalambang, made preparations to stay. They knew the swamp lands and the jungles, and the Europeans, who made up less than 2% of the population, took their places at the strategic points to await the enemy. Hurricane squadron reporting in, sir. We will have great need of you. How many of your squadron reached here? All but two, sir. You know what is ahead of us? Yes, sir. We went through it at Singapore. Emergency squadron reporting in, sir. How did you make it? How did you get through? We made it. All but five of us. What is the condition of your fighters? Fair considering. Our bombers are in better shape. Your crews? All right. The British and American planes were conditioned in all possible hastes. The crews reorganized. The Dutch Air Force, which had almost been destroyed fighting the on-surging Japanese, rallied for the fight that lay ahead. Japanese planes approaching. Japanese planes approaching. Pirates, man your planes. All planes, off the ground. Pirates, man your planes. How are you, fellows? Good hunting to you. Good hunting. Come on, you guys. Let's get these crates off the ground. Up and at them. Let's go. Japanese planes are on transport, escorted by zero fighters. The Japanese planes are on transport, escorted by zero fighters. You hear that, you fellows? Air transport, escorted by zero. That means Japanese paratroopers. Let's go. Let's go. Hey, did you get that, you guys? They're paratroops. Come on, let's get them. There they come. There they come. Look at those transports. Look at the fight they're escorting. Our fighters are attacking them. That goes to one of them. They knocked down one of the Japanese transports. It's falling. There comes a parachuted. They're jumping. Look at that. There must be thousands of them coming down. Thousands. There are thousands. Our ground crews are killing them off before they can land. Our ground crews are killing them off before they can land. But look, here comes another wave of transport. And another wave behind that. The Japanese paratroopers are on the run. The Japanese parachutists, sent to seize Palembang's oil before it could be destroyed, were shot out of the air or shot to death when they landed. Their mission failed. But the Allied Air Force suffered too. Suffered seriously. Many of the British and Dutch and American planes did not come back. And some that did were shattered. The Japanese will return. The work of demolition went ahead. They remember the millions of barrels of oil they got from the Netherlands Indies every year before the war. We must see that they do not get one drop of oil when they get here. And we must see that we make their attack expensive beyond anything they have dreamed. Strong Japanese invasion forces are closing them out of the Musque River. The troop carriers and cargo carriers are escorted by a task force of powerful cruisers and destroyers. From the airfields of Palembang, the shattered remnants of the Allied Air Forces in Sumatra rose to blast the invaders. There they are. That's up. Maybe down there. That big cruiser. Let's go get it. Into the teeth of the wall of hot steel thrown up by the Japanese warships, the Allied fliers attack. That transport there. The biggest one. That's our target. Here we go. Japanese fighter planes roared in to break up the Allied attack. The Dutch and British and Americans met them headlong, plastered their transports and warships with bombs, and splattered their invasion barges with strafing machine gun fire. Fighting with the fury never before equaled in the Pacific. The remnants of the Allied Air Forces on Sumatra have smashed two large cruisers and five transports of the Japanese invasion force at Palembang. With the great oil centers and flames behind them, the Allied airmen are shuffling between the airfields of Palembang and the invasion coast along the south mouth of the Musi River, something less than 60 miles away. Some of the pilots have made as many as six flights today going back for more gasoline and more ammunition as their supplies are exhausted. But the overwhelming power of the Japanese is beginning to tell. At nightfall, the Japanese were still landing in force and pressing inland through the swamps toward the blazing oil fields. That's the way Palembang fell, and Padang on the west coast, and Medan on the capital on the eastern side, and Sabang off the northern tip. That's the way all Sumatra fell. But as the Achenese in the north had resisted the Dutch, they resisted the Japanese, and so also did many of the other peoples. In the meantime, the Japanese were working night and day to get Sumatra's resources back into production. All the damage to the oil wells has now been repaired. This was 1943. These wells are now producing far more than the 60 million barrels of oil each year which were pumped before the war. That's what the Japanese were saying two years ago, and they probably were right. And instead of getting only 14 million barrels a year as we got before the war, they are now getting the entire output of the East India's wells. But on the charts of the Allied military men, the Japanese operated oil wells of Sumatra were marked for priority attention. But this was still to come. Meantime, the Japanese were also extracting other Sumatran resources. This is a coal mine. This mine is in the basin of the Abilin River, not far from Philembang. And there are other coal mines in the basin of the Lamartang River in the same vicinity. We are now mining more than a million and a quarter tons of coal each year here in Sumatra. Coal like petroleum is power. We are also mining silver and sulfur and red. All important war items. And from Banka and Bellington, we are getting tin and peroxide for aluminum. Tin and aluminum, strategic metals for war. That ship is loading rice for Japan. This is 1944 at the dam. And that ship is loading tea and coffee and pepper. Food for the homeland, for the Japanese troops overseas. And that ship is loading rubber. Sumatra, in early 1944, like the other islands of the Indies, was being systematically looted. But that situation has changed. Shipping between Japan and the Indies has been seriously crippled. The Japanese no longer have the ships to bring back the products of the South Seas. And more than that, virtually all Japanese sea communications to the Indies have been cut. And now it's the Allied forces that are coming and the Japanese who are besieged. I am happy to report that all three of the railroads of Sumatra are in good working condition. Very well. And the highways? The highways now connect all of the important cities and all are in proper condition for military operations. It is vital to the defense of Sumatra that our communications be kept open. Our strength will ride on our capacity to move quickly to whichever point is certain. We are ready. The Japanese, who well know the value of their prize, got their first important taste of what lies ahead of them in Sumatra on July 24, 1944. A powerful Allied Eastern Fleet task forced today bombarded Sabang, a small fortified island off the northwest tip of Sumatra. The Dutch naval base, which was seized by the Japanese more than two years ago, and which has been effectively used by the Japanese ever since, was blown to bits in the shelling by the big guns of the task force. The Japanese are now in the middle of the war zone. The Dutch naval base, which was seized by the Japanese more than two years ago, and which has been effectively used by the Japanese ever since, was blown to bits in the shelling by the big guns of the task force. Meanwhile, carrier planes blasted airfields and other military installations in the vicinity of Sabang. Remember Sabang? A month after the Sabang raid, the Japanese got another taste, this time on the western side. Carrier planes of the Eastern Fleet task force today raided military and industrial installations near Padang, the most important city on the west coast of Sumatra. The biggest Japanese cement works outside of Japan was heavily hit and believed destroyed. Remember Padang? Sumatra was today hit for the first time by American super forts, targets for the B-29s with the Japanese stronghold on the island. Remember Madame? And where the Japanese in early 1942 had struck their fiercest blow, the heaviest allied blow fell early in 1945. The British naval force struck a devastating blow today at the oil center of Palembang in Sumatra. Oil refineries, which were smashed in 1942 by the Dutch and then repaired and put back into operation by the Japanese, were completely destroyed by the British carrier-borne planes. The raiders are estimated to have been hit by the Japanese in the early 1940s. The British naval force, which were smashed in 1942 by the Dutch and then repaired and put back into operation by the Japanese, were completely destroyed by the British carrier-borne planes. The raiders are estimated to have destroyed 75% of all the aviation gasoline sources of the Japanese armed forces. Remember Palembang? In these mounting operations, observers saw special significance. In Sumatra at Palembang, it was necessary for the British naval force to enter waters which had not been entered for almost three years. This means that the Japanese control of the waters of Sumatra has been cracked, if not broken. With Singapore a mere 65 miles across the Straits of Malacca from Sumatra, the day may be near for the opening phases of the battle for the reconquest of Singapore, which may take place in Sumatra. You have been listening to the Pacific Story, presented by the National Broadcasting Company and its affiliated independent stations, as a public service to clarify events in the Pacific and to make understandable the cross-currents of life in the Pacific Basin. For a reprint of this Pacific Story program, send ten cents in stamps or coin to University of California Press, Berkeley, California. May I repeat, for a reprint of this Pacific Story program, send ten cents in stamps or coin to University of California Press, Berkeley, California. The Pacific Story is written and directed by Arnold Marquis. The original musical score was composed and conducted by Thomas Paluso. Your narrator, Gaine Whitman. This program came to you from Hollywood. This is the National Broadcasting Company.
